A man past seventy. A young woman not yet twenty.

Any way one thought about it, it was a strange combination.

Yet that day, the two of them chose a café, and in a seemingly harmonious way, sat down across from each other.

Several men in business suits waited outside the café.

Inside, the old man spoke cheerfully and sociably with Yunque. Most of the time it was he who initiated the questions, and she who answered.

From her studies and family background, down to the current state of her mother’s situation.

At the time, the video online of Feng Yanlai being beaten that day had spread into an uproar — an overwhelming torrent of online abuse directed at her. In the real world, Ye Tian and Feng Yanlai had just been taken to the police station not long ago. Feng Yanlai was cooperating with the investigation, while Ye Tian was facing criminal detention for assault.

Yunque had never felt so helpless in her life.

And she understood clearly what it meant that Cheng Fusen had come to find her.

In truth, Cheng Fusen was far more mild-mannered than she had imagined.

A person of such standing would not stoop to bullying a young girl. He simply laid out for her, clearly and plainly, the stakes involved.

He had no intention of reclaiming justice for his daughter. With things having escalated to this point, he had only one demand — and that was for Yunque to break up with Lu Rangchen.

On one level, it was a matter of mismatched social standing.

On another, neither Cheng Liru nor the Cheng family could ever accept her.

She was the daughter of a mistress who had broken up someone else’s family.

That title, even spoken aloud, was a source of shame. How could the Cheng family possibly forgive?

And so, having observed that Lu Rangchen refused to break things off no matter what, the Cheng family had made their move.

Money and power can always effortlessly crush ordinary people.

The Cheng family moved no more than a finger — and Feng Yanlai was already struggling to breathe.

How could Yunque possibly dare to hope that she and Lu Rangchen still had any chance of staying together?

They didn’t. Yunque was fully aware of this.

It was a dead-end situation.

In the end, that conversation concluded very smoothly. The old man was quite true to his word. By that same day, the situation online had been resolved. The passersby at the police station who had adamantly refused to settle had suddenly had a change of heart and agreed to a settlement.

Like a storm that came quickly and left just as fast.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and prepared to welcome a new year — everyone except Yunque.

Only she remained forever trapped in the muddy swamp, with no daylight in sight.

Shortly after, under the old man’s arrangements, she quickly completed the procedures to go abroad. She and Cheng Fusen never met face-to-face again. All subsequent contact was handled on his behalf by his secretary.

The male secretary was of considerable age. He appeared refined yet carried a cold, impersonal indifference.

Every single time, he would repeatedly make clear to her what risks she would face in the future if she failed to honor her promise.

For Yunque, this was not a threat.

It was a notification.

Yunque no longer remembered clearly for how long exactly she maintained contact with that secretary.

She only recalled that it was approximately a year or two. She and Feng Yanlai had adapted to life in Australia, and Lu Rangchen, back in the country, seemed to have finally and completely given up — to have utterly forgotten her existence.

Perhaps in Cheng Fusen’s eyes, the two could never have any possibility again.

After all, it had been a brief first love of barely half a year. Who would remain deeply devoted and unyielding for that long?

He seemed to have considerable confidence in Lu Rangchen, and after that, never had anyone proactively reach out to Yunque again.

Later, she graduated, returned to the capital alone, worked and lived, kept to a regular and orderly existence. And she truly had never imagined having anything further to do with Lu Rangchen.

In her world, he seemed to have once again become what he had been in her adolescence — the moon: untouchable, yet never falling.

She simply thought of him often.

And occasionally, through old classmate circles, she would hear some news about him.

She knew he no longer played tennis. She knew he had been placed inside the Cheng Group’s company and was being cultivated as a potential heir.

Later still, she heard that he had returned to Nancheng to start what seemed like a passion-project sports club.

When Yunque learned of this, Lu Rangchen had already been back in Nancheng for two years. At that time, Zhu Ping’an was repeatedly urging her to come to Nancheng — saying she seemed too lonely living alone in the capital.

It wasn’t entirely unfair of Zhu Ping’an to worry.

Yunque’s years in the capital had indeed been far from peaceful.

She had encountered deliberate exclusion at work, and unwanted harassment from a student’s parents. And then, afterward, came that serious illness.

That illness was like a fated trigger — and in one stroke it caused the seed buried in her heart for so many years to finally put forth a sprout.

Yunque had never been this impulsive before.

Impulsively returning home. Wanting to see him.

So impulsive that she hadn’t even figured out what the future would look like before barging into his life — even forgetting why the two of them had separated in the first place.

Until Lin Zhi made that call.

It was that call that made Yunque suddenly realize: even with so many years behind them, all those things that stood between them — impossible to cross — had not changed in the slightest.

—

After the rainy season, the July sunshine in Nancheng was especially abundant.

Once the weather improved, the morning exercises and physical education classes at Yuhua High School resumed their usual fanfare.

Not just the students either.

Even teachers with weaker constitutions — like Yunque — were ordered by the head of discipline to go outside and soak up some sun.

Yunque didn’t actually mind.

She just hadn’t expected that Zhang Leyao from the Chinese language department would seize the opportunity to strike up a conversation with her.

To be fair, the two of them weren’t particularly close — aside from sharing a large office and having shared a meal at Old Liu’s place once, they had almost no contact otherwise.

It was from that point onward that Zhang Leyao’s attention toward her had increased.

What Yunque hadn’t expected was that this time, Zhang Leyao would proactively bring up Lu Rangchen.

The yearly club membership card that Lu Rangchen had given Old Liu as a birthday gift — nobody quite knew how it had ended up in Zhang Leyao’s hands. On a whim, she had organized a few colleagues from the office to go play there together on the weekend.

Zhang Leyao linked her arm through Yunque’s and said, “Lu Rangchen said this is a gold card — everything is accessible. I’ve gathered a few teachers together, there’s still space. Are you coming?”

Yunque stood gracefully by the edge of the sports field, her expression blank as she watched the students doing exercises.

It was only after hearing these words that she showed any reaction, turning her head to look at Zhang Leyao.

A subtle, barely-concealed look of disbelief crossed her eyes.

She still couldn’t help but ask, “Since when did you two get in contact?”

“Just from that time, you know,” Zhang Leyao said openly, not hiding anything. “Old Liu sold me the gold card at a discount, and I just followed the number on the card to call the club, said I was a teacher from Yuhua, and the front desk transferred me through.”

Zhang Leyao raised the corner of her eye, as though suddenly remembering something. “Oh right, I forgot — you two are…”

There was clearly no one nearby, yet she still dramatically covered her mouth, as though saying the words “ex-partners” aloud would somehow violate the laws of heaven.

“……”

Yunque quietly looked away and said nothing.

In truth, she and Lu Rangchen hadn’t seen each other for quite a few days now.

Whether going to or coming from work, the two of them had no overlapping schedules. Without proactively reaching out, there was simply no chance of running into each other.

Even Xu Linda had complained about her, saying she was a person who had no willpower in anything she did.

The two of them had had such a good opportunity — she clearly could have cooked some late-night food, gone downstairs to knock on his door, thanked him for everything, and from there the two of them could have picked up where they’d left off. And yet here she was, days having gone by without a single move, not making any effort at all, not even afraid that Lu Rangchen would catch someone else’s eye.

But Yunque — she just wouldn’t do it.

There was one good thing about her though: no matter how Xu Linda complained, she never said a word back.

But how could Xu Linda have known that her own unlucky mouth would end up being exactly right?

Just after morning exercises ended.

As the students were all making their way back to the classroom building, Zhang Leyao finally couldn’t hold back and asked Yunque what her current relationship with Lu Rangchen was.

Zhang Leyao was a girl with an outgoing nature, and at school she always said whatever was on her mind.

It was just that Yunque hadn’t expected her to dare to ask this kind of question so directly.

Outside the teaching block, Yunque stopped walking and looked at Zhang Leyao quietly.

In truth, this girl had quite a lot going for her.

She had a baby-faced look, a fuller figure, a lively and interesting personality — and when it came to matters between men and women, she was the type to go on the offensive.

Seeing Yunque say nothing, Zhang Leyao simply came out and said it plainly, in a friendly way: “Don’t misunderstand me — I have no intention of muscling in and stealing anyone. I just want to get a clear picture of whether you two still have a shot. If you two are still lingering in each other’s thoughts, and I barge in on the side, that wouldn’t be good for anyone. And think about it — we see each other every day. Wouldn’t that be so awkward?”

This was as good as confirming she wanted to pursue Lu Rangchen.

To the extent that something subtly shifted in Yunque’s chest.

Zhang Leyao was genuinely good at acting adorable. Thinking she’d upset her, she immediately shook her arm, saying, “Hey, if there’s anything to say, let’s just say it openly — if you two have a chance, I absolutely won’t get involved. But if you don’t — you have to admit, a man that good-looking, how could I not want to—”

She didn’t finish her sentence.

Yunque cut her off and said, “You’re not his type.”

“……”

Zhang Leyao was silenced.

Yunque gently pulled her arm free from Zhang Leyao’s grip and walked up the steps alone.

Because of this.

The two of them barely exchanged a word all afternoon, even when they had consecutive classes that required a handoff.

Yunque was a person who could be sensitive when sensitivity was warranted — but when it came to being oblivious, she was genuinely, thoroughly oblivious. Even when Zhang Leyao’s looks in her direction had gone speechless with disbelief, Yunque could remain entirely unaffected.

But the more she was like this, the more Zhang Leyao fumed.

That girl truly had her ways. Before the workday was even over, she was already rallying the others to talk about the upcoming weekend trip to the sports club, weaving Lu Rangchen’s name into the conversation at every turn.

Saying that Lu Rangchen had reserved a good spot for her.

That he’d even be personally giving instruction.

The impression it gave was that she and Lu Rangchen were on the closest of terms.

Yunque stayed silent the entire time — yet who would have thought that when school let out, she ran straight into Lu Rangchen at the school gate.

The man she hadn’t seen in several days was there, leaning lazily and casually against his car, clearly waiting for someone.

A dazzling, conspicuous presence.

Even catching him in her peripheral vision, she spotted him in an instant.

Yunque’s footsteps paused briefly — and the next second she saw Deng Jiao, who had appeared from nowhere, run over to him joyfully and say something.

Lu Rangchen gave her his signature carelessly rakish pull of the lip, and then his gaze swept across and landed on Yunque, standing not far ahead.

Several days without seeing each other. The color had finally returned somewhat to this girl’s face.

But she still looked so cool and distant, with little excess expression — quiet to a degree that felt stifling.

Thinking of how many days had passed with not even the slightest gesture of initiative from her, and that he’d had to come collect Deng Jiao just to catch a glimpse of her — Lu Rangchen felt an unreasonable irritation rising in his chest.

His eyes narrowed as he watched her directly.

Yunque didn’t look away either. She just tightened her lips slightly and looked back at him without a word.

Then Deng Jiao noticed her.

That sharp-eyed girl stuck her head out from the car window and waved at her, calling out loudly, “Teacher Zhu, Teacher Zhu — are you heading home too? Come with us!”

Students passing by turned to look at her.

Yunque knit her brow very slightly.

In the end, under Lu Rangchen’s scorching and direct gaze, she walked over to stand before him.

Lu Rangchen raised one brow, studied her with an air of great deliberateness, and said, “Going home?”

Yunque curled her fingertips together and gave a quiet “mm.”

Lu Rangchen lifted his chin slightly. “Get in.”

The words were barely out of Yunque’s mouth — she’d been about to say it was fine — when Deng Jiao kept calling to her, saying Teacher Zhu, come on up, we can drop you part of the way.

Yunque couldn’t quite say what exactly she was being contrary about.

She just stood there without moving.

Lu Rangchen simply lowered his gaze to look at her, and suddenly found it funny — with a sly, roguish ease he said, “What, do you need me to carry you up?”

He said it in that drawn-out, deliberate way — you could call it teasing, yet there was also a thread of something distinctly provocative beneath it.

The way he said it made Deng Jiao’s eyelids jump.

An expletive rang through her head.

The next second she watched her pure and beautiful teacher — the one who seemed untouched by the world — go faintly, suddenly, visibly red in the face.

Yet even so, her expression remained perfectly composed.

But Lu Rangchen’s gaze moved quite openly downward, and in a light, easy manner swept across Yunque’s slender, soft waist.

This man — when he was proper, he was all clean brilliance and righteous bearing. When he let himself go, he didn’t hold back in the slightest either. His eyes carried something like hooks, making it impossible for you to remain unmoved.

It was unclear exactly how many seconds the standoff lasted.

Yunque’s tensed shoulders finally conceded. Her lips pressed tight, she stepped around Lu Rangchen, intending to get into the backseat.

But she didn’t get in.

Lu Rangchen had already caught her by the arm.

That slender, soft section — it looked as though one firm grip could snap it.

Yunque instantly stiffened, and looked at Lu Rangchen.

Lu Rangchen, however, raised his chin toward Deng Jiao, who was sitting in the passenger seat grinning widely and watching the spectacle. His tone was idle yet left no room for argument: “You — get out.”

Deng Jiao: “?”

Lu Rangchen turned his head and looked at Yunque.

A gaze that was quite at ease, yet as it settled on her, it softened without meaning to. “You take the passenger seat.”